The Eighth Crew
by Time flows
Summary: The seven crew of the Argo II were sailing the Mediterranean, around the Greek mainland. But when they were attacked by monsters again and landed in Crete for repairing, they knew they will be in danger. But they never thought they would meet a boy named Alex Rider. Chapters 1-6 are between HoH and BoO. Post-BoO from chapter 7.
1. Chapter 1

**The Eighth Crew**

Chapter one: Crete

The Argo II was sailing the Mediterranean, around the Greek mainland.

Annabeth was worried. Although it was better than flying over Gaea's territory, the route was too dangerous. The route of heroes, but also the place full of monsters. And she was sure they would meet one soon.

That's when the ship crashed into something. Annabeth tensed. She ran to the deck. She saw others, who were trying to find out what was going on.

"Percy!" Annabeth shouted. Percy turned to her with anxious face.

"There's a sea creature, but I can't talk to it. Do you think it's..."

"From the aquarium again? Kate and Porky?" Frank said behind him.

"...Keto's monster. Yeah. I'll try to jump into the sea and find out what it is." As he said that, he uncapped Riptide and walked toward the edge of the deck. Suddenly, Annabeth grabbed his arm. "Wait."

The sea was swirling. Then, hundreds of fishes with sharp teeth emerged. And right beside the ship, the one bigger than a horse was aiming to strike the shp again, where was already squashed.

"Leo, fly the ship!" She yelled. The Argo II shot out of the sea and flew at full speed, away from the horrible aquarium fish.

They landed, since Leo said he should repair the squashed part. They found a beach with some tourists, hoping the Mist would make them see some kind of a motorboat or a cruiser. But the real problem was not mortals. The island they landed, was the most dangerous place they had ever been.

Crete.

* * *

Alex Rider sat alone at the bench. He was on a vacation on his own. he did need some time to be alone, an exotic place that reminds nothing from his past. Like this place, Crete. Full of unreal stories.

He had a hard life. He had been a pawn of MI6. MI6 had ruined his life and had made Jack, the only person he could have believed and relied on, die. Living in Sabina's family was okay, but he couldn't forget the events from the past. If he was a normal boy, worrying about his school projects and scores, not worrying about saving the world and preserving his life...

Alex ran his hand on the newest iPhone Smitheres had given to him with awful lot of secret funtions. It called back his memories, but he couldn't live without a phone in this age. He put on his earphone and tried to enjoy the music and landscape.

That was when he wwas something. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a bronze... old fashined warship? He turned his head in that direction. But all he saw was a cruiser, but its front was crushed. And there were teenagers repairing it.

_Teenagers?_ Alex thought. _How can teenagers repair ships? _

Alex was sixteen now, and even though he had destroyed the world's biggest criminal organization, repairing a crushed cruise wasn't something he expected to a teenager. getting curious, he turned on the eavesdropping funtion.

Just then, his vision flickered. The cruiser turned into a damaged warship and one of the teenagers was holding a sword.

Alex was shocked. He put off the earphone right away. But the vision was the same. He blinked hard, but he could still see it. Not believing his eyes, he put on the earphone again and listened.

"...don't need more celestial bronze..." A boy's voice.

"...soon...ten days... Olympus..." Another boy.

That didn't make sense. Alex presumed it was some kind of code. His curiosity overwhelmed his sense of danger. He opened his bag and brought out some gadgets. A fan club(with highly advanced matal framework) and the zit cream(with very little cream left) were there. He was ready to explore.

"Somebody is eavesdropping on us at the beach!" The boy who he heard earlier shouted.

* * *

Leo and Percy ran to the ladder and got into the ship. Percy was furious. How could he say about such important things when they were out of Argo II? And who was listening to them? "Leo, who was listening to us?"

" I don't know. I just sensed something like an eavesdropping device. A demigod product, I suppose." Leo replied. He frowned. "How could you let someone hear about the blood og Olympus?" Leo hesitated, as if he wanted to say more, then went back to the helm.

Percy was already feeling really guilty. Crete was full of dangerous creatures and he lowered his guard. He recapped Riptide.

Suddenly, there was a movement behind him. He thought it was Jason or Frank, but he remembered everyone was near helm. He immediately uncapped Riptide again and turned back.

* * *

Alex knew he was walking into trouble. But he had to find out about it. Maybe it was some kind of terrorist organization or something else that should be stopped. He got on the ship, then suddenly the ship was afloat. He couldn't get out of the ship now. Alex ignored the surprise of flying. he just wanted to know what was going on.

When he went to the deck, the boy with the bronze sword turned to him. He had a fierce look in his green eyes. He swung his sword, but Alex dodged. He could feel the amazing skill the boy had, but Alex had something the boy didn't have. When the sword was about to thrust him, he stepped aside, caught the blade in the metal framework of the fan, and flipped hard with both hands. The sword came out of the boy's hand, and Alex caught the hilt and pointed it at his opponent.

"Who are you? And what is this place?" Alex demanded.

At that moment, an arrow flew toward him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

Frank shot the arrow at the boy without thinking. Right after releasing the arrow, he realized that he was killing the boy. He was terrified of himself.

Then something even more terrifying happened.

The arrow went through the boy, as if it was made of air. All three of them froze. then Jason appeared and shot a lightning at the boy, and he fell unconscious.

The others hurried toward Percy and the boy who wasn't moving.

Piper gasped. "Is he... is he dead?" Her voice was shaking.

"No," Jason shook his head. "Just stunned. He will wake up any minute.

"He is a mortal. My arrow passed right through him... how..?" Frank was dumbstruck. He couldn't believe a mortal boy could beat Percy. Then Leo picked up the torn fan. "I haven't seen this material before. What _is_ this?"

Percy picked up Riptide and uncapped it. "He could seize Riptide in it. Whatever it is, it's as strong as celestial bronze," he was breathing heavily. Annabeth walked to his side to comfort him.

"Look at this!" Leo said. He took out the boy's cellphone from his right pocket.

"Don't turn it on!" Hazel shouted. "You know we shouldn't be near that kind of technology!"

"Don't worry," Leo said. He examined it closely. "This was made by a demigod. A half-sibling of mine, I suppose. I'm sure it was used to eavesdrop on us," as he was saying that, he put the phone and the fan into his tool belt.

"But how come he is using demigod products if he is a mortal?" Frank asked.

"Maybe some of them made an alliance of something. And I think using these helped him see through the Mist," Annabeth said. "Don't you think we should tie him on a chair?"

* * *

They did tie the boy with wires on a chair. Piper examined him. She was sure she had seen him before. Then she finally remembered.

"This is him."

"Who?" Jason asked.

"About a year ago, I went to an international school in Cairo," she went on. "There was this boy, too. He was from England, but disappeared after a short time. There was a rumer he was under a false name and some of his friends suspected he was the one who attempted to kill the secretary of state."

The room went silent. "So... he is a teenage killer?"

"I don't know. I think I should interrogate him," she sighed. She hated to charmspeak, but it was the only way to find out who he was.

"Wake up.," she ordered. The boy opened his eyes and scanned the surroundings. Piper saw his eyes and startled at it. The boy had really serious brown eyes. /but it also seemed hollow. Like he had seen somebody close to him die.

Piper ignored the thought and concentrated. "Please answer me." she said. "What's you name?"

The boy hesitated for a moment. "Alex Rider."

"Why were you spying on us?"

He glared at the sound of '_spying'_. "I wasn't _spying_. I needed to know who you were. I've seen drug dealers and killers using a ship as their base, so why shouldn't I feel suspicious of a cruiser which turned into a warship with teenagers using swords and speaking in codes?"

Piper couldn't say anything. She could see the others were confused, too. When she was about to speak again, she was hit by something and fainted.

* * *

Alex didn't want to knockdown a girl younger than himself, but he had no choice. Especially when the girl was interrogating him and started to get informations about him. He couldn't understand why he had answered to those questions.

He had been keeping the zit cream in his back pocket. He melted the wires with the last bit of the cream and freed himself. He had discovered that there was Mossberg 500 in the room. he saw people were using their swords even though they had a gun, so he assumed that they couldn't shoot well. He had to get the gun. He would never shoot them, but he could use it to force them to land.

He sprinted toward the gun. Too late, he realized that they must had dumped the gun because they didn't have any bullets. But he couldn't stop. He picked up the gun and very, very much relieved when he felt the weight of bullets in the gun, although the bullets weighted a little strange. He put his hand on the trigger. "Land, and let me out," He said furiously. But the blond boy who was trying to help the fainted girl up seemed angrier. Sparks literally flow over him. Alex had no idea what was happening. But behind the boy, something was forming.

Alex couldn't believe it. He wanted to believe it was an illusion, but something was being formed, and he couldn't had been more shocked. It was a Minotaur. _I must be dreaming_, He thought. His fingers moved against his will. He raised the gun, aimed and pulled the trigger. Then he was struck with lightning.

* * *

Annabeth was having a terrible day. Landing in Crete was dangerous. When they started to fly again, she was relieved, but he didn't expect to see a mortal boy beating Percy and Piper. And she couldn't stop thinking about that boy. First was his eyes. That were eyes that had seen too much. She doubted he had a harder life than her, but what he said before he attacked Piper was something she hadn't expected.

Who was this boy?

Alex Rider was obviously an English. His accent confirmed it. And it was certain he had a demigod ally who made him the fan and the iPhone. Probably a son of Hephaestus. But she knew nothing else except for the rumor Piper had told them. Annabeth couldn't decide if this boy was an enemy or not. He spied and charged at them, but he helped them by shooting the Minotaur accurately.

_The Minotaur_. When he shot the gun, she clearly saw the Minotaur turn into dust when it was mid-forming. Of course, this was Crete. Home of Minotaur. It was very likely that re-formed in his home territory, but she couldn't believe he re-formed _inside_ the Argo II. The ship was supposed to keep out the monsters. Now they were nor safe at all. Even in the Argo II.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry! My computer was a little crazy this morning...**

* * *

Alex woke up with pain. He felt like he was electrocuted. He opened his eyes and found the Asian boy who had shot him.

"You're awake," the boy said. "My name is Frank. And you are Alex? Cool name."

Alex scanned Frank. There was no way could beat that big guy. But this boy didn't look like he was going to hurt him. There was just cautiousness in his eyes. Not annoyance or anger.

"How long was I out?" Alex asked, making a poker face. He didn't want to show him any emotion.

"For hours." Frank said. He hesitated, then he asked, "Where did you learn shooting? It was instinctive firing. And you hit bull's eye, literally."

Alex managed a laugh. Then he frowned. "You mean...there was a real Minotaur? And I killed it?"

"Yes."

"But that's a myth!" Alex said. This was impossible.

Frank scowled. "You don't know?"

Alex didn't answer. There was no way it was real. Must be a trick. Maybe a well-made hologram.

But still, he couldn't understand the arrow. He did feel it pass through his body. It was definitely a real.

And Frank made him feel anxious. Thinking back what he had just said, he realized that he recognized instinctive firing, He must be an expert about weapon skills.

What was this place anyway? The whole thing was so crazy that he wanted to punch himself.

* * *

Percy woke up with a start. He accidently fell asleep on his chair, and he had the weirdest dream he had ever had. He saw a younger version of the boy Alex Rider. He saw everything he had suffered, and he was horrified. How could somebody be sane after all those events? He needed to tell this to Annabeth immediately. He knocked on her door and she opened it.

"Percy?" She seemed surprised. She examined his face. "You had the same dream, didn't you?"

Percy nodded. "Do you think we can trust him?" He asked.

Annabeth thought for a moment. "I don't know if he can trust us. He won't have any dreams about our lives as he is a mortal."

They stood silently for a moment, and headed to the hall, where they put Alex Rider.

They called everyone again. Piper seemed okay, but she had to lean on Jason for support. Jason looked like he was ready to summon a thunderstorm. Leo came too, though he looked like he didn't want to leave the helm. When everyone gathered, Percy and Annabeth told everyone they had seen in their dream. Then Percy turned to Alex. "All of this is true, right?"

Alex scowled. "All you telling me that you got my past from a dream?"

Percy nodded. "It must be difficult to believe. We are demigods. Our dreams are special." Then he added before Alex could say anything. "We are going to tell you about ourselves. And I'm telling you, it won't be easy to believe."

For a long time, They told Alex everything. It took hours. They hesitated every moment at first, as they wasn't sure if it was safe to say too much. But eventually they told him everything. Alex sat quietly listening to their words.

Alex seemed confused, but he nodded. "I believe you."

"Do you?" Jason glared at him. His eyes were fierce.

Alex looked at Percy. "You sounded like me talking to my friends about myself. And I've seen enough evidences," he managed a brief smile. "Besides, I always suspected Smithers was too brilliant for a human."

"The one who made the gadgets?"

"Yes." Alex replied. Then he turned to Piper. "Sorry that I hurt you."

Jason glared at him. "Sorry? That's all you've got to say?"

Piper grabbed his arm. "It's okay, Jason. I'm not that hurt." She turned to Alex "Swear on the River Styx you will never tell anyone about us."

"I...swear it on the River Styx," he said reluctantly. "Can I go now? or do I have to put my hand on a mythology book to make the oath?

"you can go now," Percy answered. And he untied the ropes. But actually, he wanted him on his side. He saw his experiences. And he had seen his fighting movements. Besides, he won't be affected by celestial bronze and Imperial gold.

Just then, there was a shooting sound. There was a helicopter, armed with machine guns. It was shooting bronze bullets at them.

"What's that?" Percy shouted. Then realized. "We are back in Crete again? What's happening?"

"Festus! Festus! Answer!" Leo shouted, but the ship was out of control. "The engine was hit! I can't control!"

Then, the ship began to fall.

* * *

It was Jason who helped them to land in one piece. They landed right beside a cliff. Seven demigods ran to the deck. Alex hesitated, then grabbed the Mossberg 500 and ran after them.

"King Minos, I thought he was in the Underworld." Percy murmured. He uncapped Riptide. Jason raised his gladius. "Leave us alone if you don't want to go back to Underworld in the hard way!"

King Minos shouted, "I'm the king of Crete! I have rights to kill invaders! Only two of you will be saved for my patron!"

"By a king who doesn't even have a helicopter pilot. Very convincing,"Alex said.

"You will die first!" he pulled out a handgun and shot at Alex, but the bullets just passed through him. Unluckily, one of the bullets hit Jason on his arm. He clutched arm and fell on his knees.

"Jason!" Piper ran to his side. King Minos laughed. "You are kneeling at me? How weak. I thought my father's Roman form was more powerful!"

Jason's eyes were full of anger. "How dare you insult my father!"

He was bleeding, and Alex doubted he could fly or shoot electricity with that kind of injury. He thought fast. He had read stories about Crete and King Minos. Then he remembered. "Do you remember how King Minos died?" he asked people around him.

"He was killed in Sicily, but I don't remember how. If I knew, I would manipulate Mist... All I can do right now is slowing down the helicopter..."Hazel said.

Alex smiled. "What occurs when water and fire meet?"

"Water vapor?" Percy asked. He looked at him as he wanted to say Are you crazy?

"Boiling water!" Annabeth said. "Cocalus killed him with boiling water! Percy! Leo!"

There was no need to be told twice. Percy raised his arms, and to Alex's surprise, a huge wall of water shot out behind the cliff. Then Leo opened his palm and white heat came out of his hands. The water became hot and it was boiling when the water rushed over their heads and crashed on the helicopter. Minos screamed with horror. He lost control, and the helicopter swung around, breaking nearby branches. It disappeared in the forest, and there was an explosion.

Alex sighed. He thought he was done with his old life. Now, for better or worse, he was starting the most dangerous adventure in his life.


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm really sorry about the chapter 3 accident! If you haven't read the fixed chapter, please go to chapter 3 and read it. I am posting this chapter 4 early, as an apology for the accident.**

**By the way, Alex is a mortal, not a demigod.**

* * *

Percy watched King Minos return to the Underworld.

Then he helped Jason to stand on his feet. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Jason took out some ambrosia from his pocket and gulped it down. The bullet wound soon faded.

Percy saw Alex looking at the forest where the helicopter had fallen.

"I didn't thought he would die this fast." Alex said suddenly.

"Do you wish him to return and attack us again?" Percy asked sarcastically.

"No. But how could he die this easily? He had home advantage, being the king of Crete," he said.

"The Mist," Hazel said, "We all expected to see the explosion. Maybe he was manipulating the Mist, just like his wife."

"Whatever he was doing, he broke the engine," said Leo. Everyone looked at the engine room. It was smoking. Percy wondered how long it would take to repair it.

Then, something appeared beside him. It was a big box which looked just like the ones Hermes delivered. There was a letter on the top of the box. "Is that Hermes' delivery?" he asked to Annabeth.

"I think so. But who sent it?" Annabeth picked up the letter and opened it. She frowned as she tried to read it. "Alex, this was sent to you."she said, giving it to Alex.

Alex read it, then smiled as it burst into flames."Smithers' letters always burn up like this." he said, opening the box. There were lots of stuff in the box. Percy recognized some of them from his dream. "These are the gadgets?" he asked.

"Yes," Alex replied. "I think Smithers knows what have just happened. Maybe he have put a special camera or a listening device in my phone. Anyway, he says I will need these. He says he added some new gadgets he made recently. He also says he added some more things for the repair, too." In the box, there were tools and parts of machines, too. Alex pulled out everything from the box. But Percy saw there was still something left in the corner of the box. "Are those contact lenses?" he asked. Alex picked them up and examined closely. "There must be some special functions. Leo, can you take a look at it?" Alex handed it to Leo. Leo examined it too. "It has functions of Google glasses, only smaller. And tiny explosives hidden, and...I think it can help you see through the Mist, though you can already see through it." he said, returning it to Alex. "I think I should use your friend's stuff to repair the ship. And as I told you, your friend is definitely a son of Hephaestus."Leo said as he put some the gears and other metal components in his tool belt. He went back to the engine room to fix.

"Uh... Alex? So...Are you going to leave now?"Percy asked cautiously."You can stay with us if you like."

Alex paused,"I think I need some time to think."

* * *

Alex sat down on a nearby chair. He thought about everything that he saw and heard. A world of Greek and Roman gods and monsters? It sounded like a fantasy book, but he saw it with his own eyes.

He knew he didn't belong to that world. Bronze bullets and arrows didn't even hurt him since he was a normal human. A mortal. He wasn't supposed to be a hero in that world.

But he could see the seven demigods were trying to save the world from destruction. In a way, it was like seeing himself. Except that they were together. Alex wondered if he could have friends like them.

Finally, he decided to follow them."I'll go with you."

Their heads turned toward him.

"Really?" Percy smiled. "You know the dangers ahead, don't you?"

"I know. But I want to help you."He smiled, too. "I can't let the world destroyed, after all what I have done to save it."

"Then, it's settled. You can use the eight room. We have removed all of Coach Hedge's stuff, so you can move in with the gadgets."Annabeth said.

"Sure", Alex said. He wondered what it would be like. Having adventures with seven supernatural friends.

* * *

Annabeth sat in her room, thinking about the Great Prophecy. _Seven half-bloods shall answer the call_. She was worried. She was quite sure that Alex wasn't an enemy, and she wanted him on their side. Percy said the same thing, too. But she wasn't so sure if it would be okay to have him in the ship. The prophecy didn't say anything about the eight member.

But the prophecy didn't say there shouldn't be more people except for the seven half-bloods. As far as she knew, the number of half-bloods was still seven. Technically, it wasn't against the prophecy.

She didn't want to endanger people, but Alex himself chose to follow their journey. He was the greatest ally who they had right now.

* * *

Leo finished repairing the engine room. The parts from box was perfect. He had no idea how the gadget maker made them this good. Some of them were better than his. He wondered if he could work in the intelligence services in the future like him.

_No_. He told Calypso that he would open a machine shop with her. He picked up the crystal he had brought from her cave. He was sure he could find the way to Ogygia with that._ Gods can visit there whenever they want, so why can't I?_ He put down the crystal and sighed.

"Festus, let's finish this quest as fast as we can. After that, we can began out own quest."

The Argo II raised the sail and the seven demigods headed to Athens. With the eighth crew, Alex Rider.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

* * *

Two days passed since Alex had joined the seven demigods. They were going to arrive in Athens soon.

Alex was in his room, reading books to gather informations about this new world. He was the eighth crew of the Argo II, helping the demigods to defeat Gaea. _Eight is a Chinese lucky number_, Frank told him. Alex decided to believe he would have devil's luck on his side in this time, too.

For two days, he had been testing the new gadgets. Some of them were identical to the ones he had had. But some of them were completely new, such as the Post-it that caught fire when he crumpled or rubbed it together, the gloves that made him be able to climb a wall like a spider, and the Rubik's cube that became a hand grenade when he arranged them in a special pattern.

He liked all of his gadgets, except for the contact lenses. Honestly, he didn't like contact lenses. He didn't like the idea of unknown material covering his eyes, and he was quite sure his eyes would hurt if he wore them for long. Besides, he had a good eyesight. Leo said it would help him see through the Mist, but be could already see everything. And if he needed explosives, he could just use the figurine or the inhaler. He picked up and examined the lenses again, wondering if he would ever use it.

Suddenly, there was a _thud!_ on the deck. Alex ran upstairs to see what happened.

On the deck, there was a beautiful black chair which appeared from nowhere. He saw Annabeth and Piper standing in front of the chair.

"How beautiful! I've seen a lot of expensive chairs, but nothing like this!" Piper said.

"But it's Stygian iron. It's definitely from the Underworld. How did it get here?" Annabeth said. She seemed a little nervous.

"But it's awesome. I wish my chair was like this!" Piper said, taking a step towards the chair.

Alex felt something was wrong. he was still holding the contact lenses, and he put them on for the first time. Then, a text appeared in front of his eyes.

_The Chair of Oblivion: Belongs to Hades. A counterplan for the souls that don't lose their memories even after crossing the River Lethe. Theseus sat on the chair once, and stayed there until Hercules rescued him. _

"Stop!" Alex yelled.

Too late. Piper sat down on the chair as the other demigods came. Immediately, her eyes lost focus. Alex tried to make her stand, but she didn't move an inch.

"Piper!" Jason shouted, running to Piper. No response. "Piper!" Nothing.

Hazel froze. "That's,,, that's,,," she couldn't finish her words.

"The Chair of Oblivion," Alex finished the sentence. The others turned to him. "How do you know that?" Percy asked.

"My contact lenses. I should have been wearing them at the first time." Alex answered.

"No. I should have noticed what it is when I first saw that. And now Piper..." Annabeth was trembling.

Jason knelt in front of Piper and tried to meet her eyes. "Piper, it's me, Jason. You are sitting on the Chair of Oblivion. Can you just stand up, Pipes?"

No responce. Of course, it was Piper who had the talent of charmspeak. Not Jason. Jason tried to pull her up, but she didn't move. She was stuck.

Hazel looked like she was in shock. "That's my father's. But why... how..."

Then, a familiar-looking helicopter emerged.

King Minos.

"How do you like my special present? I brought it from my ex-workplace!" he shouted, laughing evilly.

Jason raised his sword, then lightning arced out of the sky and hit the helicopter. But it didn't do any harm, since King Minos was a son of Zeus. Percy tried to blast him with water, but he just flew higher, just out of the range of the water. Frank shot an arrow, but it glanced off, too. Then, Alex saw Hazel concentrating hard. After a second, the helicopter suddenly teleported and appeared right in front of them. Alex searched his pocket, and he found a gel-ink pen. He twisted its cap, and pulled the plunger. Annabeth picked up a broken blade and threw it, but King Minos blocked it with his own sword. Then, Alex threw the pen.

The pen went straight to King Minos, and exploded. He didn't even have time to cry out. The helicopter spun around, and then plunged into the sea.

"The pen is mightier than the sword," muttered Percy. Alex smiled, then his face hardened as he realized Piper was still on the chair.

The demigods gathered around Piper. "We need someone as strong as Hercules,"said Annabeth, her voice full of anger."We must release her from the chair."

"Release her from the chair..." Hazel hesitated for a moment, then sliced the chair with his spatha. The chair collapsed, and Piper gasped as her eyes went back to normal.

"Piper!" Jason ran forward and hugged her. Piper was shaking hard. "Jason... I..."

"It's okay, you are safe now," Jason said, patting her. Piper just sobbed.

"Destroying the chair... yes, it's no longer the C_hair_ of Oblivion now. Great job, Hazel," said Annabeth.

"I just imagined the chair to be weaker than my sword," Hazel said.

"Do you think the iron pieces still have the same effect like the chair?" Percy asked.

Annabeth sighed. "Just throw them away. They are just Stygian iron now, and we can't use them. Hazel, is King Minos dead?"

"Yes, I can feel that." Hazel replied. She glanced at the pieces of the chair, then went to her room.

The other demigods hesitated, then followed her example. Jason called the wind to sweep the parts of the chair, then escorted Piper to the downstairs.

Alex was left along for a moment. He looked at the one remaining piece which was stuck in the bullet hole of the deck floor. He wanted to take the piece. To avoid touching the iron, he took off his watch and used its ends to pick it up. Carefully, he took it to his room and put it in a small bulletproof box on his desk.

At that time, he didn't know that it would save the life of the entire crew.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry I'm late. I've been wondering for ages if this chapter is all right because it contains something that none of the books have.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

* * *

Percy was sure he saw a glimpse of a black dragon at 8 o'clock. Actually, it seemed more like a drakon since it looked like a serpent and much bigger than a normal dragon, but Annabeth had once told him about Chinese dragons, and he presumed this must be one.

_But what does a Chinese dragon have to do with Greeks and Romans?_ Percy thought. He decided to keep an eye on the sea this morning. They were going to land on the port of Athens that evening, so everyone, even Alex, was ready to fight any monsters from Gaea. The earth goddess would never let them enter Athens without any monster to fight with. He wondered if this dragon was one of them, but something was wrong. It didn't attack him. It just appeared for a second, then disappeared.

Two hours later, Annabeth came to the deck. She looked a little uneasy.

"Percy, I think I saw a black snake in my room, but it vanished right after I saw it. Things are getting weird. Snakes are usually sent to baby demigods to test them, not to vanish in front of them." Annabeth said. She looked worried.

"I saw something like that, too. But mine was a Chinese dragon. Just like what you explained before," Percy said.

Annabeth frowned. " A snake and a dragon... that's two animals of the Chinese zodiac." She sounded a little unsure.

At that moment, there was a roar. Something was flying toward them from the east. At first, Percy thought there were some kind of birds. However, when they came close, Percy realized he was looking at eleven giant creatures in the sky. Even the rat, the smallest one was taller than him. And there was a person on each animals.

There was a shooting sound. And Percy realized they were shooting guns at him. He uncapped Riptide.

The ship alarm went off. Leo Jason, Piper, Frank, Hazel ran to them, there weapons drawn. Hazel shouted."Mercury!"

"Hermes?"

"No, hydrargyrum! Atomic number 80!" Annabeth yelled. "It's impossible! It's supposed to be liquid in this temperature!"

"_Shengxiao_?" Frank stared at the creatures. "I thought they were just myth!"

"Who said myths weren't real? How can we beat them?"

Just then, Alex appeared.

* * *

Alex had been cleaning the gun. He didn't have to worry about the bullets, since it was magically loaded. At that moment, Alex heard the alarm bell and sprang to his feet with the gun. He hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should bring the gadgets. When he heard the sound of bullets, he realized he had no time for gadgets, and quickly wore the bulletproof jersey and ran the the deck.

There was an unbelievable scene in front of him. More than ten giant animals were in the sky, and when Alex showed himself, all of the animals and their riders turned to him and shot at him. He was hit by a gray bullet in his chest, and he was thrown off his feet and crashed to the floor. Another bullet grazed his ear, and it was bleeding. He could see the rider of the giant flying dog, and froze as he recognized him.

The Chinese guard from Wimbledon.

Alex scanned the others quickly, and realized what was happening.

_The Chinese traids were revenging on Alex._

Alex couldn't believe what was happening with the animals. He realized they were the Chinese zodiac. _Are Chinese traids related to Chinese myth?_ He tried to make sense of the two things, but he was interupted by the memories about the attacks of the traids.

Alex remembered the incident in Wimbledon. And Cornwall. They almost killed him twice, but they weren't attacking anybody else at those times. And now, his new seven friends were being attacked by the traids and the monsters.

He fired his gun several times, and the dog winced in pain and fell to the sea. Alex saw Percy making waves, preventing the dog from rising. The Chinese guard was bleeding, and he disappeared into water, too.

Ten animals kept attacking. Frank shot an arrow at the a golden pig, and his pig exploded. But the other animals were to fast that his arrows couldn't find it's target. Hazel seemed like she succeeded to turn the giant rabbit into a cute white one, and its rider crashed into the deck, only to fell into the sea by hazel's sword.

The demigods and Alex were fighting to death, but they had no more luck. The traids were shooting constantly. A bullet broke Frank's bow, and Piper was shot in her leg. Jason was trying to blast the animals with lightning, but he couldn't since they were moving incredibly fast.

Alex kept shooting. Surprisingly, The bronze bullets were doing great. It kept injuring the animals. Alex could shoot a bullet to another Chinese on a sheep, and he realized this was the man who attacked him in Cornwall.

But the problem was the ox and the rat. The rat was sitting on the ox's head, and the ox was the fastest of the fastest. When Alex was doing his best not to lose the sight of the ox, Frank shouted at the ox.

"You stupid ox! Do you want to lose the first prize by the rat on your head again? You want to be a private transportation of that coward who stole your place? Fight that rat!" He yelled hard, but the ox wasn't listening. Then Piper repeated the same words. The ox started to fight the rat, and two more Chinese fell into the sea, and the rat was killed. When the ox was full of sastifaction, Jason blasted it with lightning.

The fighting went on. Alex's ear was still bleeding. The traids' gray bullets were making the air unbreathable. Mercury was a deadly element to everyone. If they stayed in this situation, they would all die in just a few hours.

That was when an unexpected help arrived.

* * *

Frank was getting tired. He dropped his bow and kept fighting with his sword, but the Chinese zodiac monsters were so fast that he didn't even have time to defend himself.

Then he saw another creature flying toward them. He couldn't see it since he was too busy fighting the giant white tiger.

His sword fell out of his hand as soon as if crashed itno the tiger's claw. He was quite sure the tiger would kill him any minute.

Then, a beautiful blue horse appeared. It attacked the tiger with it's hooves, and the tiger exploded after its head was completely squashed. The horse landed beside Frank.

_Nice to meet you, Frank. Did you know this year is the year of blue horse?_ the blue horse asked in a friendly voice.

Frank couldn't say anything. It was normaly Percy who could speak to horses. He took a step closer to the horse.

_ It's been a while since I chose a rider. Others chose Chinese traid leaders, since the traids were born in a special time. But they are stupid to be in part of that dirty organizatoin. Everything they do are dishonorable. _The horse paused for a moment and continued_. I choose you as my rider, Frank Zhang. You are the one who can bond the Chinese, Greek, and Roman._

The fight was still going on. Without hesitation, Frank got on the horse and he felt full of energy. Frank and the horse acted like one. They could fly in every directions, and they destroyed every enemy on their path. Finally, he stabbed the dragon on its forehead, then there was no more monsters left.

Frank got off the horse and patted it on his neck. "Good boy."

_It was nothing. I should have gotten here earlier, but I have to wait untill noon, the time of horse, since that's when I'm the strongest. _

_I can sense a stable in this ship. Can I rest in there _

"Uh, sure. Get some rest."

The horse flew toward the stable.

Frank turned back, and his friends were staring him in awe. Percy seemed like he was in shock. "What was that?"

"The sacred blue horse of this year, I think. It helped us to defeat other animals."

"I couldn't understand what it just said to you. How can this be?"

"You can't? Uh..." Frank was surprised by that."Anyway, he told me he chose me as his rider, saying I'm the only one who can bond Chinese, Greeks, and Romans."

"They were the Chinese traids. I recognized them" Alex said suddenly. "I didn't know they had such power. No wonder they are one of the largest organization in the world." Then he added, "I think they were revenging on me. I'm sorry." His hands were sightly shaking.

"It's not your fault. We were expecting attacks anyway. And Frank got that awesome horse!" Leo said, trying to grin.

Frank looked around and saw a hundred of Mercury bullets melting on the deck. "Someone should get rid of the Mercury, or we'll all die like Qin Shi Huang."


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi... long time no see. I'm really sorry for my long absence. I've been really busy. I tried to start writing again last fall, but The Blood of Olympus came out and I couldn't find out how to continue this story.**

**So, it will be post-BoO from this chapter. I'll try to update new chapter every weekend from now on.**

* * *

Alex was watching the sea, recalling the events with the seven demigods.

Two weeks ago, he encountered the seven half-bloods of the Argo II. When he decided to go with them, he did expected some attacks, but didn't expect that his new friends would be attacked because of _his enemy_. After the fight with Chinese traids, he was unable to accompany them anymore. So when the ship sailed near Ithaca that night, he left a note and got out. With some small gadgets in a waterproof bag, a small celestial bronze knife, and the Mossberg 500. It was diffficult to swim with the gadget bag and the gun, but he managed it.

Returning to San Francisco was a tricky part. He didn't have any idea to pass the airport security, but the Mist did its job. It was quite amazing to see the Mist fooling the metal detector. Anyway, he was able to return home.

That was two weeks ago. As the world wasn't destroyed on August 1st, he presumed that the demigods won Gaea. He wondered if his friends all survived. But he had nothing to do. He was just a mortal who accidently found out the world of mythology, and the one who put demigods in danger during their quest._ I have to forget everything about it_, he thought. But even when he was thinking this, there was a celestial bronze knife in his pocket. He sighed. Then he glimpsed something shimmering by the seashore. When he focused on, he realized it was the wreck of a helicopter. When he went closer, he couldn't believe his eyes.

It was the helicopter of King Minos.

"No way," Alex murmured. There was no way for the helicopter in the Mediterranean Sea to float to San Francisco. He examined it closely, trying to find the evidence that this was a differnt one. But the more he examined, the more it looked the same. Then he saw something that sent a shiver down his spine.

A sliver scorpion symbol attatched to the plane.

Scorpia.

* * *

Frank was in Camp Jupiter, doing his work as a praetor. He just came back a day ago, and the Camp was a mess. Hazel had told him to take some rest, but he couldn't.

At noon, he gave up lunch and went out for a short walk. Then he saw a blue horse flying toward him and smiled. It was the horse from _Shengxiao._ Frank called him Lan, which means 'blue' in Chinese. Lan only appeared when he wanted to, and it was a little disappointing when he didn't appeare anymore after Ithaca.

That was around the same time that Alex Rider had gone. Alex had left a message which said that he didn't want to put them in danger anymore. He had left some gadgets in exchange for the weapons he brought with him. Frank wonder how he got home.

_ Hi, Lan_, he said to the horse. _How's everything?_

_ Get your weapons! I'll tell you the reason on the way while flying. HURRY! _Lan's voice echoed in his head. He did what he was told, and Lan started to fly at his full speed.

* * *

A bullet grazed past Alex's ear. Shocked, he turned back. When he saw the attacker trying to shoot again, he ran. He dodged another bullet, and darted behind a building. The gun was equipped with a silencer, so nobody heard the noise. Alex ran in circle and caught the attacker behind. Alex kicked him with all his strength, snatching the gun. A punch was thrown at him, but Alex was faster than that. In ten seconds, he knocked him down and examined him.

The attacker was young, probably 20 or 21. Alex found a tiny drawing of a scorpion on his gun. He must be a new one, as he was so carelsss. Alex ran home. He had to make sure if Sabina's family was all right. He became more anxious when he found out nobody was home. Alex was about to call CIA when he saw the monster.

* * *

_What's wrong?_ Frank asked Lan.

_Remember Alex Rider?_ Lan said.

_Yes, but... why?_ Frank was a little surprised. _Is he here? Is he under attack?_

_Remember traids making an alliance with_ _Shengxiao?_ Lan said. _They're not the only ones. Just check your bow if it's all right._

* * *

Alex recognized it as a manticore. Its scorpion tail was more horrible than he had imagined. Alex grabbed his Mossberg and shot it with bronze bullets, but the manticore wasn't that injured, despite all the bullets he fired. Then he felt a bullet grazing his ear just where he had been shot earlier. A man was firing at him though the open window, and Alex threw his knife, only to see it passing though him. Alex opened his gadget bag and picked up the inhaler grenade, and threw. the man was knocked down.

That's when Alex was hit by the manticore's poisonous spike. The manticore broke the wall and came in, and the last thing Alex saw was a familiar arrow.

* * *

It took seven very special arrows to kill it. When Frank realized the manticore was trying to kill Alex, he shot with all his might and the manticore turned into dust. He was almost hit by its spikes, but Lan was able to parry away it all.

"Alex! Are you okay?" Stupid question. Alex was already unconscious and looked like he was dead. Lan let Frank drape him over his back. Frank climbed onto Lan and sat behind him. _Lan, fly to Camp Jupiter as fast as you can._

_Sure thing._ Lan flew to the camp as fast as he could.

* * *

Frank and Lan should have noticed the man with the gun getting up and following them.


	8. Chapter 8

The Campers were having lunch in the dining hall of Camp Jupiter, when Frank and the blue horse suddenly landed in front of them with a wounded boy.

Frank got off his horse and shouted. "Where's medic? He was shot by a manticore! Where's..."

"Is that Alex?" Hazel asked, astonished. "How did you find him?"

"He was being attacked by the manticore near the sea. Someone help him!" Frank yelled.

Reyna picked up a bottle of nectar from her pocket and hurried toward them. "Who _is_ he?"

"He can't have nectar. He's a mortal. Maybe unicorn draught..."

A medic ran after them and fed the draught to Alex. Alex was barely conscious, but his breathing became more stable. Frank sighed. If unicorn stuff were lethal to mortals like nectar... he didn't want to think of that.

"Why would a menticore attack a mortal? And that horse..." Reyna looked a little bewildered.

Hazel answered her for him. "This boy is Alex Rider, who helped us on out quest. he ran away after a few days... after we fought with some monster from Chinese myth," Hazel said. "He worked as an MI6 agent when he was fourteen. He is even better that most demigods," she added.

"We should take him to the infirmary. I'll explain everything when he's safe." Frank said.

* * *

"You are asking me to believe this?" Reyna almost lost her words. If it wasn't for the wounded mortal boy in front of her, she would have thought he went crazy. "You think the police will get involved? Nobody can overlook a broken house."

Frank was about to answer her, but stopped when he saw Alex waking up."...Where am I?" Alex murmured.

"You're in the infirmary of Camp Jupiter. And this is Reyna, a praetor like me. Alex, can you tell us what happened there?" Frank asked.

Alex winced and told them all about it.

* * *

The news that Alex's house had been attacked was enough to alert the CIA. Joe Byrne arrived as soon as the police called him, and couldn't believe what he was seeing.

It was no longer a house. It's front part was smashed, and other parts were almost burned. The policed informed that there was a gas explosion after the house was broken, but they couldn't tell how the house got smashed. And Alex was nowhere to be seen.

While other agents were investigating the house, a knife caught Byrne's eyes. It was lying on the ground a few meters from the house. Since he was a son of Athena, he could understand what had happened at the house. A monster attack. A demigod fighting it. Whether or not Alex was that demigod, the truth had to be hidden to people.

"Report this as an IS terror attack aimed at a journalist." Byrne said to his agents.

"But sir, I don't think..." An agent started to say, but Byrne didn't let him finish the sentence. "Do as I say, and assign this case to Tamara Knight."

* * *

Percy was talking with Annabeth when Blackjack suddenly landed between them.

_Boss, you should go to camp Jupiter now. No time to argue._ Blackjack said.

_What are you talking about? It's time for lunch. Play somewhere else. _Percy replied.

_Camp Jupiter needs you. Boss, just shut up and climb on my back._

Percy had never heard Blackjack saying _'shut up'_ to him. He did shut up and rode Blackjack. Annabeth did the same.

Blackjack flew at his full speed. After an hour, Percy spotted a rainbow ahead of them.

"Annabeth, do you have a drachma?"

"Sure," Annabeth tossed the golden drachma as they passed through the rainbow. "O goddess, accept my offerimg. Please show us Hazel at Camp Jupiter.

Hazel's face appeared. "Hi, Hazel, how's it going?" asked Percy.

Hazel seemed surprised, but she seemed to recognize the Iris-message. "Hi, Percy. Frank found Alex Rider. He was..."

"What's that?" Annabeth suddenly interrrupted. "There's a ...mini drone right over your head."

"What are you talking about?" Hazel looked up and shrieked. "Styx- what _is_ this?" She quickly snatched it. It was indeed a drone, and that meant someone was spying on the camp. Percy could see the far end of the camp on the edge of the image, and saw an unfamiliar figure. And the figure was lifting his hand.

* * *

Alex heard the gunshot. He ran out of the infirmary to see a man aiming another shot. The second bullet was aimed at Alex, and he would have died without the unlucky bird flying between him and the man.

"Hazel!" Frank was helping Hazel, whose ear was bleeding. It was the same spot Alex had been shot earlier, and he realized that this man had been shooting with incredible accuracy. He ducked behind a tree, and tried to find anything that could help with this. The third bullet hit the tree. Campers gathered, but two of them were hit by the forth and fifth bullets. Archers shot arrows, but they just passed through the man, and the sixth bullet whizzed pass Alex's head. The man was reloading his gun, and Frank got his bow and arrows, then aimed.

"Aim at the gun," Alex whispered.

"What?"

"You know it's no use aiming at that mortal. The best you can do is to break his gun."

He saw Frank aiming again. He shot the arrow just when the man was about to fire another bullet, and the gun was broken into pieces as it was hit by the arrow. Alex saw the man bringing up a cellphone and talking into it rapidly only to get it blown apart by another arrow. Alex saw the man running away, but he knew this was not the end. The man would come back, and maybe with some remaining Scorpia agents and monsters.

He couldn't helping blaming himself. The demigod camp was in danger because of him.


	9. Chapter 9

Percy and Annabeth arrived at Camp Jupiter in the evening.

_Boss, here we are. I think I'm gonna die right now..._ Backjack was panting so hard that Percy couldn't blame him for calling him boss. He and Annabeth ran into the infirmary as soon as they got off the pegasus.

"Hazel! Frank!" Percy called out.

"Percy?" Frank appeared. "How did you get here so fast?"

"Blackjack had been bringing us here when we talked on the Iris-message with Hazel. Is she okay?" Annabeth said.

"She's fine. Come inside,"

Hazel was sitting on a bed, rubbing her ear. And on the chair near the bed sat a familiar blond boy. While Annabeth was talking with Hazel and Frank, Percy approached him. There was a hint of recognition in the boy's eyes and he nodded.

"Hi, Alex," Percy said to him.

"Hi," Alex replied shortly, clearly not wanting to have a conversation. His eyes darted around nervously.

"Can you... tell me what happened? I want to hear it from you." Percy said carefully. Alex looked reluctant to tell the story, but eventually he let it out.

* * *

Tamara Knight was investigating the evidences she had gathered from the broken house. This case had been assigned to her since she was the only one who knew about demigods and monsters, apart from Joe Byrne. Her father was a son of Hephaestus and her grandmother was a daughter of Athena. She didn't have any supernatural power, but she had been able to make some testing machines for monsters attacks.

_Monster dust test result: Manticore_

_DNA test results (knife): Alex Rider and some unknown demigods_

_DNA test result (gun): Jinja Naven, a possible Scorpia agent_

It wasn't surprising that there was a Scorpia agent, since it was Alex's house and the gun they had found had a small scorpion drawing. But the fact that there were _both_ manticore and Scorpia agent was quite interesting. There was only one case similiar to this, which CIA found some manticore dust with some bullets and sliver arrows on the hill of Bar Harbor, Maine. That was more than two years ago and was occured in the other side of the country, but it was almost same.

However, there was one great difference between two cases. She started to check on all the CCTVs installed within one hundred meters from Alex's house.

* * *

Jinja Naven was taking out metal fragments fron his hands. He shouldn't have underestimated the Roman demigods.

21-year-old Jinja Naven had been one of the youngest agents of Scorpia before it was disbanded. He later found out that the MI6 spy who destroyed the only society he could be credited for his work was actually a teenage boy named Alex Rider. He tried to track down the boy, but even though he hacked every house and school in UK, he couldn't find him. When he was looking for another way, the manticore appeared to him.

Monsters had been Scorpia's ally for a long time. The founders of Scorpia were mostly children of Nemesis, the goddess of revenge. Other agents were mostly mortals, but some high-ranked agents knew about monsters and demigods. Naven got to know it when he found out the truth about the sudden disappearance of a competent agent placed in Maine. He half doubted it before, but when the manticore contacted him, he realized that everything was real. And the monster seemed to know everything. It said Alex Rider was with a demigod named Percy Jackson, and if he promised to hand over Jackson to it, it would help him finding them. Naven didn't have any reason to turn down the offer.

It was intended that he didn't shoot Rider directly and let Rider knock him down on their first encounter. The manticore insisted that Rider would lead them to Jackson, but things went all wrong when they followed him to Alex's house and he threw a grenade. Luckily, he regained consciousness before they were out of his sight, and he found out the location where they were. He prepared to attack again, with more precise plans.

* * *

Hazel had never been shot by a real bullet. Her ear was bleeding a lot, and her head was throbbing. It wasn't a serious wound, but other campers weren't so lucky as her. Two boys from Second Cohort died from the bullet. She didn't know them very well, but she couldn't forgive the man who attacked them.

"Do you think he will come back?" She asked.

"Probably. If he had somewhere to contact, he may have reinforcement. We should alert the campers." Annabeth said, her gray eyes storming. Hazel wondered if it was anger or anxiety in her eyes.

"Do you have the gadgets I left?" Alex asked suddenly.

"Yes. Shall I bring it?" Frank said.

"Yeah," Alex anwered.

While Frank was fetching the gadgets, Hazel asked Alex if he recovered from the manticore's poison, and Alex just nodded.

"Here it is," Frank held out the box to Alex. Alex opened and searched it. "Did you use anything?" Alex asked.

"No, we didn't need to. Besides, I don't know how to use most of the gadgets," Frank replied.

"Why didn't you asked Leo about them? He seemed to understand all these things," Alex said.

There was a silence. "Why?" Alex demanded.

"Alex... Leo is dead," Hazel finally answered. "He sacrificed himself to destroy Gaea."

Nobody said anything for a while. "I'm sorry," Alex finally said.

"No, it's not your fault at all. Just tell me why you asked us to bring these gadgets," Annabeth said.

"it's not a gadget I'm talling you about," Alex said. He took out a small box from the gadget box and opened it. There was a small piece of black iron

"Stygian iron- but how did you get it?" Hazel asked in surprise.

"This is not just a normal one. It's the piece from the Chair of Oblivion," Alex answered.

Hazel gasped. "You're not supposed to keep this thing! And only children of Hades or Ploto can use that material," she said.

"I know. That's why I'm asking you to keep it," Alex said. "You are the only one who can control Stygian iron. You should keep this box, and use the piece when the time is right," he said.

Hazel picked up the box and examined it. Bulletproof for sure. She wondered it she could handle the piece inside.

"You are saying like you are leaving," Percy said.

"I am." Alex said.

"You can't," Annabeth said.

"You know I keep letting danger come into your place. It's the best option," Alex said.

In fact, it wasn't.

* * *

**'Jinja Naven' means 'Really Bad' in Korean. You can translate '진짜 나쁜' by yourself, in case you don't believe me.**

**By the way, please correct my English grammar anytime. I know I am writing in wrong grammar and misspelled words.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hi, sorry for not updating last week. There was something wrong with this website and I couldn't log in.**

**By the way, I should answer to some reviews... **

**Agent Chloe Roets: Thank you for encouraging me. I promise I'll not give up this story.**

**yashendra2797: Almost 40% of the reviews are yours. Thank you for reading and reviewing every chapter!**

**Matt: No, Hazel is not _pretending_ Leo is dead. She is _believing_ that he is dead. You know, things didn't go exactly as they thought, and if Nico felt Leo was dead, Hazel would have felt like that, too. I didn't alter any important things from the book storyline. Leo revives afterward, of course.**

* * *

The sun was almost gone when Alex went out of Camp Jupiter. Alex found the way home, and walked in the fading light. He saw his house after a while and frowned.

The house was all broken and burned. There was fence around the house and the police were preventing people from coming in. Sabina's family was nowhere to be seen, and there were a bunch of journalists asking questions or reporting news.

"...presumed as an IS terror attack aimed at a journalist...nobody was harmed..."

Alex wondered if they really thought that it was an IS attack, or CIA was just covering it up. He watched the wreck of his house for a while and silently walked away to find somewhere to sleep without being discovered.

* * *

Tamara Knight had watched every CCTV she could find near the scene, but couldn't find anything useful. The Mist was so thick that she couldn't see neither manticore nor weapons. All she could see clearly was Alex and a figure assumed as Jinja Naven, the Scorpia agent whose DNA was found on the gun. The last thing caught on the monitor was someone taking Alex and Jinja Naven following them in a distance.

CCTVs were too easy to be fooled by Mist. Tamara Knight sighed and turned away from the computer. It was time for her to investigate as a field agent.

* * *

Jinja Naven was lucky.

He saw Alex Rider near the house and started to follow him, with a new handgun in his hand. He followed him until nobody was near. He checked the silencer and shot as Alex till the gun was empty, and walked away.

* * *

Alex could feel nothing but pain. His chest was screaming in agony. He saw blood seeping out, and slowly, he went black.

* * *

Percy had no idea how could horses sense something wrong only with their instincts.

Percy got the call of Blackjack and now he was trying not to fell down from an overspeeding pegasus. After a few minutes, he saw a blond boy fallen on the ground, covered with blood. And took a few seconds to recognize the face of Alex Rider.

"Alex!" Percy called out. Blood was pumping out of Alex's chest and arms. Amazingly, he was still breathing sightly, but his face was incredibly pale and blood was everywhere. He looked like he was going to die anytime. Percy picked up ambrosia from her pocket, then reminded himself that Alex was mortal. Percy put him on Blackjack's back and flew to Camp Jupiter as fast as he could.

* * *

Annabeth felt a raindrop landing on her shoulder. It took her a moment to realize that it was actually blood. Shocked, she looked up and saw the silhouette of a dark pegasus flying over her head.

Blackjack landed a few meters away. Annabeth saw Blackjack and Percy covered with blood and froze. Then she saw who was really bleeding. It was Alex Rider, who left the camp an hour ago.

"What happened?"

"He was just like this when I found him. Shot, maybe."

"You should have taken him to the hospital!" Annabeth yelled.

"There's no way he can live that long. Get some unicorn draught!" Percy said urgently.

"Unicorn draught only works on wounds hurt by monsters!"

"What?"

"There's nothing we can..." Something flickered in Annabeth's head. "The Golden Fleece," she whispered.

"That's in the other side of this country!" Percy said.

Annabeth quickly pulled out a golden drachma from her pocket. "O goddess, accept my offering. Show us Nico di Angelo at Camp Half-Blood."

The image of Nico appeared. "Annabeth?" Nico said, a little surprised.

"Nico, bring the Golden Fleece to Camp Jupiter right now. Just do it." Annabeth disconnected the message as soon as she finished her words.

A moment later, a big dark shadow emerged beside them. A giant black dog ran out of the shadow, dropping a dark haired boy from its back.

"Will would kill me if he saw me doing it again..." Nico was breathing hard, then frowned when he saw them. He handed Annabeth the fleece, and she covered Alex with the fleece. Immediately, some color came back to his face, and after a minute he wounds began to heal and his breathing became more stable.

"He was really close to death. I saw his life energy fading," Nico said, as if it wasn't obvious.

* * *

Tamara Knight followed the path which she saw in the CCTV. Then she saw a pool of blood right ahead. Gripping her gun, she went closer. She saw a lot of blood, and some bullet marks on the ground nearby. If someone was shot, and bled this much... it meant certain death. But there wasn't any dead body around. Instead, she found some blood stains on the ground. The strange thing was, the shape of it showed that the bleeding person was at least 2 meters high in the sky. Tamara Knight hesitated for a second, then followed the trails of blood.

* * *

Nico hated shadow-traveling on Mrs.O'Leary. But he didn't have any choice. He would have dissolved into nothing if he used his own energy.

Nico helped Percy take Alex Rider to the infirmary. He already know Alex Rider, since he was quite popular(or notorious) in the Fields of Punishment. Almost everyone who got the harshest punishments two years ago cursed him countless times. He wondered how many arai he would have. He sat quietly and listened to Percy explaining the campers what had happened.

"...so we should let him stay here." Percy finished.

"I understand what you are saying, but we don't accept normal mortals. Besides, he let his enemy into the camp and is responsible for the death of two campers." Reyna said.

"So, we just take him out and let him die? I saw him fighting, and he was better than normal demigods. And he's not responsible for anything. He didn't even came here by himself," Frank said.

When Reyna was starting to say something more, Dakota rushed in."There's an intruder at the gate!"


	11. Chapter 11

Annabeth grabbed her knife the moment Dakota said there was an intruder.

"Where is that intruder?" she asked.

"I was guarding the door, and I saw someone coming toward here. Believe me, I was wearing this infrared contact lens which a Vulcan kid made two days ago-" he pointed at his right eye. "-and I'm quite sure there was a woman holding a gun, walking toward this direction," Dakota answered rapidly, breathing heavily.

"How far was she from the camp?" Reyna asked.

"I don't know, but she must be close by now. Come on!" Dakota yelled heading to the door.

Reyna, Frank, and Percy checked their weapons and hurried after him.

"Nico, watch Alex and hide him somewhere if he wakes up," Annabeth asked Nico and ran after them.

While running, Annabeth couldn't help worrying about both camps. Camp Jupiter was just about to be broken in, and Camp Half-Blood was...

Unprotected.

The Golden Fleece was out of Camp Half-Blood.

Annabeth became pale with fear.

* * *

After a while running, Percy felt the Tiber River ahead of them. When they were about to cross the bridge, he heard Mrs. O'Leary barking painfully.

"Mrs. O'Leary?" Percy called out. It was to dark to see the black hellhound, but he could sense something was definately wrong. He stopped and snatched the flashlight from Dakota's hand. Dakota protested, but Percy ignored and lit it toward the sound of barking. When he saw Mrs. O'Leary, his felt his breath stop. She was surrounded by dozens of sharp-teeth rabbits. They looked exactly like the rabbits of the Zodiac they had encountered on Argo II, and they were biting and clawing Mrs. O'Leary. He uncapped Riptide and started slashing the rabbits with the sword, but there were too many of them. They greatly outnumbered the demigods, and they were all over Mrs. O'Leary. A few moments later, Mrs, O'Leary fell down and disintegrated into dust.

"No!" Percy tried to go where he had seen Mrs. O'Leary a moment ago, but more vicious-looking rabbits kept attacking demigods. Then...

Gunshots.

Someone was firing bullets at the rabbits, and was very good at it. Soon, there were no more those horrible monsters, but only dust.

* * *

Alex was awoke by the sound of people leaving the infirmary. When he realized he was alone, he threw away the yellow blanket covering him and imediately faltered with sudden pain, but recovered and ran out.

"Wait!" A dark-haired boy appeared and tried to stop him, but Alex dodged him and ran, as he just wanted to get out of there. When he was about to cross the river, he saw four people fighting dozens of small monsters. And some of them noticed Alex and the boy, then surrounded them and began to attack.

"Styx- use this!" The boy handed him a small bronze knife, and pulled out a black sword. They kept thrusting and slashing at the monsters till everything near them was gone.

Alex panted, and noticed the boy watching him.

"What's your name?" Alex asked.

"Nico di Angelo. You're Alex Rider, right?" the boy said, and Alex nodded.

"Listen, there's an intruder at the camp, and-" he didn't have time to finish his sentence.

Gunshots rang. Alex saw a silhouette of a woman on the other side of the river firing a gun. But strangely, the bullets seemed to hit only the monsters. After she killed all the monsters, she crossed the bridge.

"Can anybody tell me what was going on?" the woman asked, and Alex recognized her right away.

"Tamara?"

* * *

Tamara heard Alex's voice. "Alex?" she said. When she went closer, she could see him, but his clothes was covered with blood.

"Were you shot?" she asked.

"About an hour ago, I suppose. Somehow these people healed me. I guess you are the 'intruder' of this camp?" Alex said sarcastically.

Tamara realized the blood trails she had seen earlier was Alex's. And the word 'camp' reminded him of the demigod camp, Camp Half-Blood which her parents had explained her before.

"How did your bullets kill the monsters? Which material is that?" A blond girl asked.

Tamara smiled. Those bullets were one of the inventions she was quite proud of. "A half part of the bullet is celestial bronze, while the other half part is titanium alloy," she answered. "So that it doesn't matter what you are firing at."

The girl murmured a word something like 'backbiter', and the teens- presumed as young demigods - started to whisper something to each other.

Alex approched her. "Were you a demigod? How did you find Camp Jupiter?" He asked.

"Descendant of demigods, but I can't understand what's going on here. I just followed that blood drops. Did you just say 'Camp Jupiter'?" Tamara said, confused.

When Alex started explaining, she saw one of the demigods throw something, and an image appeared in front of the demigods.

* * *

When the Golden Fleece was gone, thousands of monsters invaded Camp Half-Bloodin less than an hour. It was dawn, and all campered shot out from their beds. Realizing the fleece had disappeared, some of them panicked, some of them were confused, and others encountered the monstere. Soon, a war broke out. It was just like when the entrance to the Labyrinth had opened. The difference is, this one was like a surprise attack and the campered weren't armed properly like then.

Piper was fighting desperately with her dagger. Right after she killed ten monsters, an Iris-message appeared infront of her.

"Annabeth? Where are you?!" Piper asked at the image, making a thrust at the eleventh monster. When she looked at the message of Annabeth again, she saw the backdrop of Camp Jupiter. "When did you go to Camp Jupiter? The Golden Fleece is gone and the monsters are keep coming from everywhere-" Piper couldn't finish her sentence. She slashed at the Laistrygonian giant that blocked her sight, and when it disintegrated, the message was cut off.

* * *

Annabeth's hands were shaking. "We should take the fleece to Camp Half-Blood right now," she said.

Nico looked troubled. "But I can't shadow-travel myself anymore. If I do it, the fleece and I will disappear into nothing," he said.

"But you did it when you came here!"

"Anybody can shadow-travel on a hellhound. But now..." he pointed at the dust.

"I'll call Arion," Hazel said. She had woken up when the sounds of bullet rang and came after them.

"Remember it took four hours to come here from Alaska? And it was over water, without disturbance. Do you have any idea how many building there are between here and New York?" Percy said.

"It will take more than six hours," Annabeth finished.

"It takes less than three hours by a supersonic jet," an unfamiliar voice said behind her.

Annabeth turned back and saw Tamara. "You drive a supersonic jet?"

Tamara shrugged. "I've driven it three times in the first year I joined CIA. I do know how to get to New York from here," she answered.

* * *

The campers at Camp Half-Blood were fighting for more than two hours. Jason was exhausted, but kept thrusting the monsters and electrocuted some big ones. More than ten campers died, and more and more monsters were coming. Jason himself got a cut on his left shoulder by a kampe, and everyone he could see was injured, since almost none of them had time to wear armor. But campers were fighting bravely, and nymphs were fighting. too. The problem was that there were endless lines of monsters.

While fighting, he heard a loud noise as if a bomb was exploding. But there was no bomb at camp half blood that sounds like that. Jason was confused for a second, but kept defending the camp.

* * *

"Almost there!" Tamara shouted.

Nico was relived a little. He always hated flying, and flying faster than sound was creepy. He kept twisting his silver skull ring. Then he realized something quite important.

"Alex, have you ever been to Camp Half-Blood?" he asked.

"No, Not that I know of," he replied.

Nico sighed. "Mortals as well as monsters can't come inside the boundary line without permission. I, Nico di Angelo, give you permission to enter Camp Half-Blood," he said.

"So, that's it? I can go inside the camp now?" Alex said. Nico shrugged, twisting his ring again.

"We are landing. Brace yourself." Tamara warned. There was a scratching noise and the jet shuddered, and finally stopped.

When Nico opened the door, dust and dirt was flying around, but he could see the Half-Blood hill far away. "We're here," he muttered and started to run across the monsters to the pine tree, carrying the Golden Fleece.


	12. Chapter 12

Nico started to run across the monsters with the Golden Fleece. The monsters recognized the fleece and lots of them came after him. He defended them with his sword, but there were too many of them. And when he dodged an attack from one, a flock of Stymphalian birds snatched the fleece from his hand.

"No!" Nico reached for the fleece, but he was too late. The bird-monsters soared high up in the sky, and there was no way Nico could retrieve it.

He noticed his leg bleeding and started fighting again, but there was no way they could defend the camp for a long time without the fleece. The campers weren't ready to this and were slowly backing off. He kept glancing up in the sky while fighting and...

There were the loudest gunshots he had ever heard. He realized there were machine guns in the jet and the CIA agent was shooting the half-bronze bullets. High up in the sky, he saw the fleece falling, and a familiar eagle was flying up to get it. Frank. Just when he caught the fleece in his beak, the remaining birds attacked him at once. Frank was still holding on the fleece, but it didn't look like he would hold on for long. Nico ran back to the jet. The jet had stopped shooting, and the agent was coming out with guns. When she saw Nico running toward her, she threw one of the guns to him. Nico caught it with his right hand, and aimed at the birds immediately. Thanks to his great eyesight, he could see the targets clearly, and started shooting.

No bullets missed the birds. Without time to admire his work, Frank landed in front of him, and transformed into human again. "Let's go!" Frank handed him the fleece and ran to the tree, vaporizing monsters on the way. Nico ran after him. When they could see the pine tree ahead of them, he saw one of the Laistrygonian giants chopping the base of the tree. It was half done, and the tree was about to fell down. Nico aimed his gun at it, but he was already out of bullets. Frank shot the last arrow he had, but it dodged it in astonishing speed.

* * *

Alex saw the giant. In his pocket were the gadgets he had retrieved, but explosive would kill the tree, too. He thought for a second, then pulled out an old-fashioned phone from his pocket. He dialed nine-nine-nine and the antenna spat out of the top, the end of a needle coming out. Alex balanced it in his hand and threw it at the giant like a spear. It hit directly at its spine and it fell down. It twitched, but Nico arrived and finished it off. Finally, he put the fleece back on the tree, and Alex tensed. But...

It was doing nothing. The monsters kept rushing in.

"No way..." Nico was even paler than before. He didn't move for a while, and Alex had to pull out the phone antenna from the giant's back and impale another monster, which tried to smack his head. When he took a look at the tree, Alex noticed the chopped part of it healing.

"Wait until the tree finishes healing!" Alex shouted, and continued defending the tree. When the tree was finally healed, the wall of an invisible force formed around the camp, and all the monsters within it were thrown away, as if they were sucked by a vaccuum cleaner. If Alex weren't accepted by the camp, he would have been just like that.

He pushed the antenna back inside the phone and turned back to see the campers. Then he heard screaming.

* * *

The monsters were attacking Tamara, who was still outside the camp border. She shot as much as she could, but the number of bullets was not infinite. She had to hit the monsters with the barrel of her gun, then remembered she was still wearing her exploding earrings. With her left hand, she pull it off and threw it at the monsters. They backed off. She threw another one, but now they were expecting it. A Telekhine jumped at her, and a Stymphalian bird attacked her at the same time. When she tried to stop them desperately, a pretty girl with a dagger vaporized them and grabbed her arm.

"You should go inside the boundary line!" The girl yelled, and ran with her. Other campers helped them by shooting arrows at the following monsters. Soon, they went past the tree and sat down, breathing heavily.

"Hi, my name is Piper. And you are..." the girl asked.

"Tamara Knight," she replied.

* * *

Percy checked the campers, and explained them about Alex and Tamara. He knew it wasn't a good time, since the campers were all wounded and were in shock. He tried to tell them the points, but ADHD was kicking in, which made explaining harder. He let Frank-the only demigod who had neither ADHD nor dyslexia-continue his words, and campers listened, though he wasn't sure if they could concentrate.

"So, the conclusion is that you took the Golden Fleece away because of that British spy?" Clarisse said, her eyes full of hatred. She unsheathed her sword.

"Calm down, Clarisse. we should-" Piper started to talk, but interrupted by Clarisse.

"Stop charmspeaking me! And Kick out these two intruders," Clarisse said and walked away to her cabin.

Percy sighed and shook his head. "Look, sorry for not telling about him before. But we are telling you that Alex had been a great help to us, and he needs help. Out there is a killer who tried to assassinate him, and he is in grave danger," he said. He looked around, and saw somebody missing.

"Where's the CIA agent?" he asked.

"She went to capture the killer. Someone named Jinja Naven, I remember." Piper replied.

* * *

_So that was his name_, Alex Thought. he hadn't uttered a word since the meeting started, and didn't plan to either. He just crossed his arms and listened to the conversation. He knew the only way was to stay in one of the camps-it was too dangerous to stay anywhere else- and he wasn't the one who knew how to drive a supersonic jet. He had to stay at Camp Half-Blood for a while, and the best thing he could do right now was not interrupting and keeping his mouth shut. He just listened and started to think what he should do.


End file.
